U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth slammed "fat generals" and diversity initiatives that he said led to decades of decay in the military and told a rare gathering of commanders on Tuesday they should resign if they do not support his agenda.
www.reuters.com
....Joining Hegseth was U.S. President Donald Trump, who also delivered an address to the assembled admirals and generals in Quantico, Virginia that floated the idea of using deployments to U.S. cities as "as training grounds for our military."...
Over the weekend, Trump announced plans to send National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon. Earlier this year, he sent Guard and active-duty Marines to Los Angeles, despite protests from local officials. He has promised to send troops to Chicago.
In his speech, Trump said he told Hegseth "we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military."
He acknowledged that he has been criticized for deploying the military on U.S. streets, but said America was in the grips of what he described as a war from within waged by immigrants in the country illegally who his administration is seeking to deport.
"America is under invasion from within. We're under invasion from within, no different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways, because they don't wear uniforms," Trump said.
That triggered a sharp reaction from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat.
"Anyone who talks about their fellow Americans as enemies to be 'taken out' is not fit to lead the nation," Pritzker said on X.